From nauplion@charm.net Sun Oct 29 05:27:20 2000 Received: from mxu2.u.washington.edu (mxu2.u.washington.edu [140.142.32.9]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW00.05/8.9.3+UW99.09) with ESMTP id FAA99070 for ; Sun, 29 Oct 2000 05:27:20 -0800 Received: from fellspt.charm.net (root@fellspt.charm.net [199.0.70.29]) by mxu2.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW00.02/8.9.3+UW99.09) with ESMTP id FAA02046 for ; Sun, 29 Oct 2000 05:27:19 -0800 Received: from charm.net (coretel-116-219.charm.net [209.143.116.219]) by fellspt.charm.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id IAA24042 for ; Sun, 29 Oct 2000 08:27:03 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <39FC24B2.FEDFDFF7@charm.net> Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 08:23:03 -0500 From: Diana Wright X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en]C-DIAL (Win95; U) X-Accept-Language: en,el,tr MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Classics Subject: The Importance of Troy, or, Funding for Classics Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A report about a classicist in the war zone. D "non-partisan" W 8th District [NC] under watch U.S. House balance at stake By WADE RAWLINS, Staff Writer TROY -- Robin Hayes is a Republican congressman from Concord, a pretty reliable vote for his caucus, which emphasizes cutting spending and a smaller federal government. But as he campaigns these days to keep his 8th District seat, Hayes carries with him a 4-foot-wide reusable blank check, signed "Uncle Sam." The amount can be filled in with felt-tipped marker to publicize the amount of federal money he has come to deliver, then wiped off to use again -- and again. "I think that makes more sense than anything else we do," Hayes said of the check presentations. "We think our performance over the last two years is more important than any other campaign ad." Such is the power of congressional incumbency, which Hayes hopes to use in his re-election campaign against Democrat Mike Taylor and Libertarian Jack Schwartz. The race is being watched nationally as one of a few that will help decide whether the U.S. House stays in Republican hands or Democrats regain a majority. Two years ago, Hayes outspent Taylor 3-to-1, but his 3,000-vote victory was surprisingly close -- so close the national Democrat Party targeted the district this year. Bringing it home The predominantly rural district stretches from Fayetteville along the South Carolina border to the edge of Charlotte. It's known for producing cotton and textiles; it's a district where the fortunes of the county football teams are closely followed. The voters are predominantly Democrats, but they are ticket splitters. Hayes, 55, a gregarious businessman and heir to the Cannon textile fortune, is running for re-election on his record as a representative effective at helping the 10-county district. On Tuesday, Hayes presented $650,000 to extend water lines to an elementary school with a contaminated well in Stanly County, and two hours later $258,000 for a pilot housing program to encourage home ownership in the town of Troy. A day earlier, he presented checks totaling more $4 million at two airports in the district. More announcements are expected. Roy Maness, longtime mayor of Troy, population 3,800 in Montgomery County, thanked Hayes for the money and posed with him for a newspaper photo holding the oversized check. A contributor and adviser to Taylor, Maness nonetheless spoke favorably of Hayes, saying the freshman congressman had visited the area frequently. "I have to say he has shown a great interest in our county," Maness said. "He's been a hands-on congressman." Taylor said he was glad Hayes had secured money for the district. "It's Christmas in Dixie here two weeks before the election," Taylor said blithely. "I'll have a lot of nice ribbon-cuttings to attend." An Albemarle lawyer with an academic background in classical archaeology, Taylor, 53, is talking a lot about Hayes' record, citing it to argue that Hayes is out of touch with the district's working families. "If we lived in a district lined with country clubs and golf clubs, he'd fit right in," Taylor said. "But we live in a district with a lot of small towns and rural areas." Hayes was elected to Congress after serving on the Concord Town Council and in the General Assembly and running unsuccessfully for governor in 1996. Taylor was chairman of the Stanly County Democratic Party, helping Democrats win control of the county board of commissioners in 1994 when Republicans won county courthouses across the state. He is making his second run for Congress. Taylor has campaigned on the need for prescription drug coverage as a part of Medicare, visiting many senior centers and nursing homes. He has criticized Hayes' votes against a Democrat-crafted plan for guaranteed prescription drug benefits under Medicare and against a patients' bill of rights. Issue of prescriptions During a radio debate on WFNC radio in Fayetteville this week, Taylor said Hayes had received $5,000 in contributions from a pharmaceutical company's political arm two days after voting against the Democratic proposal to put prescription drugs in Medicare. "I have taken contributions from over 2,600 individuals, including drug companies," Hayes responded. Hayes said including prescription drugs under Medicare would create a massive new government-run health care program and risk the solvency of Medicare. He said he favors a plan to allow private insurance companies to offer drug coverage, giving seniors citizens a choice. "A lot of seniors tell me, 'Don't bother the good coverage we have,' " Hayes said. Ads from outsiders Two years ago, Hayes spent $1.15 million, compared with Taylor's $366,624. This year's rematch promises to be much more expensive. Hayes has raised almost $1.5 million this time. He doesn't rule out putting in some of his personal fortune. Taylor has raised about $700,000 and, unlike last time, received backing from the national Democratic Party. In 1998, Taylor could only afford six days of TV ads. This year, ads funded by the AFL-CIO critical of Hayes began airing in mid-July. Hayes said he didn't factor in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the labor unions pouring more than $1 million into ads. "That's been a few more bales on the wagon we've had to pull down the road," said Hayes, who has been the beneficiary of ads funded by Citizens for Better Medicare, a pharmaceutical industry group, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Politics is a contact sport," Hayes said as he paused over a plate of fried chicken at a roadside diner. "We can take it. We can dish it out." A few days ago, Hayes' campaign started airing ads with Marie Sherrill, 77, of Concord. In the ad, Sherrill accuses Taylor of not telling the truth and says she'd like to march him into the kitchen by the ear and wash out his mouth with soap. Taylor responded this week at a rally in Rockingham that he had a present for Hayes: a bottle of Lysol. "Maybe he can clean up his campaign a little bit and start talking about the issues," Taylor said. Hayes, however, believes the issues are on his side. Plus, he has the power of incumbency and is better known than two years ago. But the campaign will be close. Its competitiveness has drawn political luminaries on both sides to the district -- actor Charlton Heston and Hadassah Lieberman, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Minority Leader Dick Gephardt. "It's like the presidential race," said Wayne Goodwin, Democratic Party chairman in Richmond County. "It's going to go down to the wire." Staff writer Wade Rawlins can be reached at 829-4528 or wrawlins@nando.com .